Bulldogs route defending CCC champs

Turlock High’s second matchup against Buhach Colony High on Friday was its chance to establish its presence in the Central California Conference for the 2013 season—and its boys took full advantage of it. Two days removed from beating the defending champions 5-1 in the CCC opener, the Bulldogs again took the Thunder to task with a 2-1 effort.

“It’s a good start for us, that’s for sure,” Turlock’s head coach Mark de la Motte said.

For Friday’s matchup Turlock sent Tyler Murphy to face off against the Thunder batters, and as expected, Murphy delivered from the hill with 93 pitches in a complete game that saw only one run allowed in the third inning. Murphy also dipped his hand into scoring himself when he hit a RBI double in the second inning to give Turlock and early lead. After Buhach’s third inning response, Adam Groesbeck provided the go ahead and winning score when his RBI double sent Brett Cumberland across the plate and the Bulldog dugout into celebration.

Turlock nearly lit the scoreboard up in the fifth inning when its runners loaded the bases, but Thunder ace Daulton Jefferies kept the score reasonable with back to back strike outs and five more in the subsequent inning.

“We hadn’t been in a close game in a while so we were a little tense,” De la Motte said. “But we were able to beat a good pitcher and that’s going to give us a lot of confidence in the future.”

Friday’s effort was a continuation of a dominating sense of momentum that started on Wednesday where Nick Voumard mounted an impressive defensive performance against the Thunder with seven strikes in a complete game of his own.

“He pitched us out of two jams and after the fourth inning he was dominate,” De la Motte said. “He practically handcuffed them.”

During Wednesday’s game Voumard also recorded 2 RBIs while Austin Bush came up big with a three-run double in the fifth inning.

“He broke it open,” De la Motte said of Bush.

Turlock now sits atop the CCC standings with cross-town rival Pitman High. The Bulldogs’ next game will be played at home against Merced High on Wednesday.

“It’s really big; to get two against Buhach, and beat Jefferies at home, it’s a bonus,” De la Motte said. “We still have 13 games to go though, so we have a lot to prove.”